Sharon & Andrew | SF Botanical Garden Proposal
I was absolutely thrilled to be a part of this proposal surprise for my friend Andrew, whom I’ve known for decades, and whose sister’s proposal I also photographed years ago. On a beautiful day, underneath a gorgeous magnolia tree full of white blooms, Andrew asked his girlfriend Sharon to marry him. And of course she said yes!
I’ll let Sharon tell the whole story, in her words:
We had planned to celebrate Valentine’s day that day, since we weren’t able to fully celebrate the weekend before. But I knew something seemed a little different that day. It might have been when Andrew insisted I not wear my dirty white sneakers that were no longer white (He knew I would regret wearing them to take nice photos). Or it could have been when he decided to carry a fancy leather messenger bag but wouldn’t let me know what was inside. But there were too many little oddities that day for my brain to wrap around, so I dismissed them as we set off to enjoy our date at the botanical garden. The San Francisco Botanical Garden has a special place in our hearts; we had celebrated our very first Valentine’s day there because Andrew knew of my love for flowers. It was such a gorgeous day; the white and pink magnolias and camellias were all in full bloom. As we wandered the garden, Andrew led me to this bench below the most breathtaking white magnolia tree. He had me sit down and finally took out what was in his bag – the adventure scrapbook I had made for him for our last Valentine’s day! He had filled up more pages of our book with more photos from this past year – of places we’ve been to, of food we’ve made, and of friends and families we love dearly.
When I reached the last page of the book, Andrew got down on his knee and took out the most gorgeous ring that he designed himself! I think my heart may have skipped a beat. I was in such shock, all I could think of was “is this real life??” It was a moment I want to remember – the moment when I knew I would be able to spend the rest of my life with this amazing person. Andrew even invited my whole family to surprise me after the proposal! It turns out, he had been planning this for months with my family and friends. It was the most perfect day.
This was Sharon’s reaction when Andrew said he had asked her parents for their blessing before proposing to her… but it didn’t end there! The second photo is Sharon’s reaction when she realized her parents… and the rest of her family and one of her best friends was also in the garden, there to surprise her!
I love a good two-part surprise.
After processing a little bit of the initial shock and saying hello to friends and family, we continued wandering around the beautiful botanical gardens for some more portraits of Sharon and Andrew.
And then they also called Andrew’s family via Facetime!
Such an honor and a joy to document these big moments! Congratulations, Sharon & Andrew!
Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She loves a good proposal. Contact her to inquire about your own proposal plans.
